As it charts a new course, Frederiction business incubator Planet Hatch has parted ways with Sally Ng, who has been its executive director since it opened more than two years ago.

Ignite Fredericton Chief Executive Officer Larry Shaw confirmed in an interview Monday the board of the economic development agency thought it was “best to decide to move on” with a new head of Planet Hatch.

“We couldn’t be more happy with all the work that Sally has done in the past few years,” said Shaw. “She got Planet Hatch up and running and got our early stages of the accelerator going.”

However, he added that as the economic development agencies have consolidated into Ignite Fredericton, the board has decided that the incubator must meet the needs of all entrepreneurial ventures, not just high-growth startups.

Ng declined to comment for this article.

When Knowledge Park (the knowledge-based industrial park that is now overseen by Ignite Fredericton) opened its incubator in 2013, it chose Ng as the first head of the facility. As well as being a veteran of several startups, she was a facilitator for Startup Weekend and steeped in startup development.

Ng proved a tremendous champion for Fredericton tech startups, and several growing ventures, such as Resson Aerospace, Eigen Innovations, Mycodev Group and Hotspot Merchant Solutions passed through the ACcelr8 program she initiated.

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Meanwhile, the economic development scene was changing in Fredericton. The city that bills itself as “The Startup Capital of Canada” created Ignite Fredericton to oversee the complete economic development agenda, including business attraction, immigration, promotion and other facets.

Shaw said Ignite Fredericton’s board decided that Planet Hatch should be the hub for all entrepreneurial activity, not just high-growth ICT startups. For example, he said if someone wants to open an engineering business, they should be able to go to Planet Hatch and find the same expertise, mentorship and support as any other type of business venture.

“All that we’re doing is broadening the base of Planet Hatch and putting more facilities in there,” said Shaw. “We never saw it as just as an accelerator. It’s a place where entrepreneurs can go, whether you’re a high-growth startup or another type of business.”

He added that the commitment to the tech community has not diminished at all, and that the regional Propel ICT would continue to host its Fredericton cohorts at the facility.

Shaw said the board will take a few weeks to assess the structure of Planet Hatch and then will seek a new executive director. It may decide to retain the same structure or make a few changes, he said.

“We’ve got an extremely aggressive agenda,” he said. “We’ve had two great years [but] we also realize … it‘s a good time to step back and see if there are things we would like to change. We’re going to take a few days and figure that out.”